The current Kings Norton station is the second station to be built in the Kings Norton area. The original Lifford railway station was first built on what is now the Camp Hill Line. Opening in 1849, Kings Norton was developed as part of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway's line to Curzon Street via the Camp Hill Line. In 1852 the stationmaster, Thomas Clark, was fined 50s for causing a collision. He allowed a goods-train on the line when an express train was due, and used defective signal lamps. The express train collided with the goods train and there was substantial damage, but no loss of life. On 19 March 1864 at 6:00 pm, a luggage train with several trucks of sheep suffered a failed axle and all of the trucks behind were thrown off the line. Two of the trucks containing sheep descended the embankment and overturned, killing many of the sheep instantly. A fast train from Bristol was halted before it reached the collision site. The platforms were extended in length in 1892 with the extension of the Midland Railway's Birmingham West Suburban Railway. This enabled the construction of a large coal and goods yard with sidings for the adjacent Triplex factory. In the mid 1920s, two additional lines and platforms were added - opening to traffic on 14 March 1926. Stations on the Camp Hill Line were closed to Passenger Traffic from January 1941, although passenger trains continued to use the line and stop at Kings Norton Station. The station was rebuilt in 1978 by British Rail and the lines through the station were electrified in 1993.
With the development of both bus and tram services, the need for such a large facility reduced from the 1930s onwards. The result is that today although all four platforms remain in place, only the outer two are in passenger use, with the middle island platforms now derelict. Refurbished as part of the Cross-City line in 1978, it retained some of its original features following refurbishment, unlike the other 'cross city line' stations. The original station building survived, leased out for commercial purposes, until it was demolished in February 2006 for safety reasons. An extension car park provides a Park and Ride facility. Kings Norton is served by West Midlands Trains services, using Class 323electric multiple units. West Midlands Trains operate the Cross-City line on behalf of Transport for West Midlands. Kings Norton Station is equipped with real-time information departure boards which were installed in 2006 by Central Trains.
Disabled access
There is step-free access to platform 1 from the ticket office entrance. Step-free access to platform 4 is via the Pershore Road South road bridge and the car park.
Services
Trains call here every 10 minutes in each direction Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 15 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays. Since July 2018, southbound trains serve as well as Redditch.
Future
Kings Norton Station could see refurbishment of the island platform for passenger use, should the proposal to reopen the Camp Hill Line progress. This could see the introduction of 3 trains per hour between Kings Norton and. Only the two outer railway lines at Kings Norton are electrified fully, however the type of cantilever used on the platform means the lines can quite easily be fully electrified should the Camp Hill Line reopen for passenger traffic, though the track layout will need amending.
In the media
Kings Norton Station has been used, along with many other areas of Birmingham, as a location in the BBC daily serial Doctors.
